This is a lovely book, loaded with gorgeous photos of lovely houses, objects, antiques, modern accessories and more. The book is divided into 9 chapters - each reviewing a different style of decorating. They are....Neoclassical Modern Retro BohemianTraditional Swedish Vintage Floral French EleganceRustic Country Coastal Warehouse

This huge 228 page book begins with a general introduction to Annie and Felix's views on decorating and design. Throughout the book, there are small hand drawn illustrations scattered amongst the layouts that add a charming handmade feeling to the book.

Each chapter introduces the style with 8 pages of photographs, history, design elements, colors, and furniture all profusely illustrated with lovely photos by Christopher Drake. Following the introduction, Annie and Felix introduce a home that uses the given style in beautiful photos. They explain why the home works in both words and photos. At the conclusion of each chapter, there is a "how-to" of a paint treatment which is shown in the home.

Annie Sloan is known for her paint treatments, her Chalk Paint Line and her many How-To books that she has published over the years. This is not a How-To book but a style book and a nice addition to her growing collection of titles. Here is one of the paint treatments that I would love to try - it is called Marble Effect and is shown in the Traditional Swedish Chapter.

This paint effect is quite dramatic - a kind of streaky, variegated look to the walls.

I learned a lot reading this book. It is beautifully produced with color photos printed on matte finished paper. Of course, I was attracted to certain chapters more than others but that is the point of it. You will probably read it and like other chapters. Here is a pretty spread for the Bohemian Chapter.

And a little more colorful bohemia.....

Although my home is not decorated in the Vintage Floral fashion, I was drawn to many of the photos in this chapter. It featured many handmade items and gave me some ideas for future projects.

Here is the DIY project from the Vintage Floral Chapter - a lovely handpainted floral chest of drawers.

I do see the allure to the Rustic Country Chapter. I wish I could be so understated and simple but clutter and collecting seem to be more me.

I wish I could share more pages from this book as it is really beautiful and inspirational. At least I have introduced you all to it. This book would make a lovely Christmas gift for someone interested in interior decoration, paint and color.

In the following short video you can see Annie and her son Felix chatting about this new book project.

Would you like to win your very own copy of Annie Sloan's Room Recipes for Style and Color courtesy of publisher Ryland, Peters and Small? Here's how you enter.....Answer the following question in the comments section. What would you say is your favorite decorating style? Country, Rustic, Bohemian, Urban, Mid-Century Modern, Flea Market Style.......? Contest ends Saturday December 6th at 11:59 p.m. US Residents only please. As always, leave an easy way to get a hold of you - email, Ravelry or blogger id.Unfortunately,
the book giveaways are only open to US Residents. The reason for this
is I ask publishers to donate books and ship the giveaway copies to the winner. Shipping for
books to Canada and overseas is extremely expensive because of the
weight of the book and the postage charges. In fact, it usually costs more to ship a book than the retail cost
of the book. These folks are being nice to me (and my readers) and I think it
is unfair for them to incur ridiculous shipping costs. I'm sorry for this if you are an overseas reader but I'm sure you understand my reasoning.

Hmmm, well, I have to say, my style is eclectic (fancy for mish-mash) and not so much by choice but by happenstance! LOL But I'm slowly trying to move toward kind of what I think you'd call French Country for my tiny 746 sq foot home. So maybe my style is French Country Cozy!

Thanks for the great review of this book! I'm sans-decoration myself - bare walls, plain wood (I mean, unpainted), but it's fun to think about what I *might* like. I'd definitely be a Modern style, meaning open and spare, but I like to have wood around, not metal. Easty-to-Clean Country?

I hope the orchard trees survived the heavy snowfall. I'm reachable at caulmare@english.umass.edu

My style is eclectic, but I have to say that I love COLOR. I also do not like "matched" sets of furniture, and I like to hang picture groups that are not centered, but instead are what I call balanced.

I took a class on using Annie's chalk paint last year, and I do like the paint very much. So far I've only painted one bookcase. I was planning to paint a wooden bed, but my son finished college and came home to use the bed while he looks for a fulltime job!

Ah, my style, repurposed, casual, comfortable, hand crafted (when possible) and much of the time the pieces in my home have a story. My finds come from tag sales, flea markets, consignment shops, friends and even a few were curb side ( a framed Christmas cross stitch-with broken glass, found curb side in Paris). I rotate my "art" to keep it fresh and new to me. I love textiles and will re-do a loved linen table cloth into a pillow case or napkin, take apart a framed needlepoint and transform it into a pillow or finish a quilt top picked up from a tag sale.

Thank you for offering another book! I love your current 'opening' photo of the green room and the red leaves and books.My decorating (at one time 'early matromony with castoffs) I've collected things I love from lots of places and somehow I work them into 'scenes' or 'clusters' in different rooms. I have enough to 'rotate the stock' seasonally. So rustic, bohemian, crafty. Somewhere in there. Mainly comfortable. :) helen(dot)mathey(hyphen)horn(at)pac(dot)dodea(dot)edu.

What a beautiful book! Another one to add to my wish list (unless I win one!) My favorite decorating style is timeless, classic, colorful and cozy. Comfortable chairs, with a table everywhere you'd want to put a drink, lots of books, but not a lot of clutter. Warm colors and quiet patterns.

Thanks for the 'not-so-sneak' peek at this beautiful book. I'm glad to say it is available (post free!) in UK via Amazon.co.uk for £17.00 - wonder if it will fit in my Christmas Stocking? My favourite style is Country cottage - I live in a 120 yr old cottage in the Welsh hills.Val E.

This book is definitely my kind of book. My style is very similar to yours, Kristin. I live in a 19th century house, love bright colors on the walls, mix 19th century folk art and American painted furniture, kilims, and funky flea market bits.dolan_jean@yahoo.com

We are in a new house, have very little furniture, and I could really use some pointers! My favorite decorating style is Country French and I love Jacobean textiles, too. My email address is frenchmeetups@gmail.com. Thank you for the giveaway!

I want to change my style to a cleaner, more paired down look without being uncomfortable or cold. I just turned 50 and am embarking on finding me! This book looks like a great resource for both inspiration and execution. Just what I need since I am not a natural decorator.

This is a great giveaway! Thanks for the opportunity. My style would be Bohemian in a mid century home...but with little clutter. Just a few crystals on a side table and one beautiful seashell. A pile of books that I'm currently reading on the floor next to a modern loveseat.. An arrangement of flowers and ferns from my backyard on my wooden dining table. As much as I love visiting rooms with collections and knick knacks, my own rooms tend to be on the sparse side. Thanks again! This book looks very interesting!

What a wonderful give away. Thanks for the opportunity. I love Annie Sloan paints and have used them to paint old furniture that my neighbor put out for the trash man. It turned out so nice!I'm drawn to English and Swedish styles but I also love Pottery Barn where everything is clean and has white slipcovers that I don't have, haha. I hook rugs so my style is probably more like yours sorta primitive with color and country here and there and a oriental rug in the mix with swedish undertones. I'm not sure what the label would be maybe swedish country or at least that's what I want to be one day!! Thanks Kristen I love your blog!!

This book looks great! My current style is hand-me-down, but I'm starting to look around & am thinking of slowly redecorating. I seem to be drawn to a combination of French elegance, coastal & rustic country. Not sure if those go together or not. Hmmm. I'm b-girl on Ravelry.

Hi Kristin!I would say perhaps my favorite style is mostly Vintage Floral with some Bohemian thrown in. I love flowers and color. Right now I am struggling a bit with how our house looks...I long for a bit more simplicity than our farm house full of kids, school work and farm mud offers...I am sure this book would lend some direction and inspiration. Thanks for this give away chance. Love your blog - thanks for sharing.

Thanks for hosting the giveaways this month. My style is eclectic with clean lines, pops of color and tons of framed special family pictures. My husband is an outstanding photographer and my favorite presents over the years have all been framed picture colleges of our family. Our entryway has a stunning full wall that shows their growth from elementary, to intermediate, to huge poster sizes of their senior pics. They attended an art school so they had tremendous freedom in picture choice and they really capture the souls of our boys. One is at the beach playing guitar in the golden hour before sunset. The joy on his face is so up lifting. My younger son who is 6'2 is sitting on a bench surrounded by beautiful foliage completely immersed in reading a book. It is him to a T. Whew-sorry for such a long comment, but it made me look again at my house and how happy it makes me. Thank you for the reminder! Sometimes you get caught up in the day to day and really forget how good you have it and how the best things are right in front of you. :0)

About Me

I am an author and artist specializing in surface design including the disciplines of ceramics, textiles, needlework, knitwear, stitchery, and interior design. The thread that holds my work together is color and pattern. I live in western Massachusetts, USA in a 1751 farmhouse with my husband Mark and daughter Julia on a farm along with over 250 sheep, chickens, cats and dogs.

Copyright Kristin Nicholas 2006 - 2019

All words and photos are copyright by Kristin Nicholas. Please do not use my original photos or reprint my writing without asking me for permission. Please make sure you credit me as Photographer and link back to this blog. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to e-mail me - my contact info is on the left sidebar. Thank you!